In February 1984 Italian television was lucky enough to resume and broadcast the special participation of the Queen at the Italian Song Festival. Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor e John Deacon they go up on the stage of the Ariston ready to enchant Sanremo. But, as it is now known, the British singer is forced to sing in playback. We find out in this article the motivation behind that controversial decision.
QUEEN, THE RETURN AND THE GREAT CONCERTS OF THE 80s
In 1983 i Queen they had returned to the recording studio, after having dedicated themselves to their solo projects, ready to work on the new album. On January 23, 1984 they released the single Radio Ga Ga, destined to become one of the best known and most successful hits of Freddie Mercury and associates. The following February 27, the album is released The Works.
Among the tracks of greatest popularity of the tracklist we find I Want to Break Free. The song is also linked to the anecdote about the music video created by Roger Taylor. In the United States, in fact, the clip was considered in bad taste and censored by televisions. In the following year, two great musical events contributed to sediment the myth of forever Queen. The first the Rock in Rio which also sees the participation of AC/DC e Iron Maiden. The second the legendary Live Aid of 1985, also taken up in the musical biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.
THE WORKS, AT THE TOP OF THE CLASSIFICATIONS IN ITALY
L’album The Works, published in February 1984, it only took second place in the UK charts. In 19 other countries instead – including the United States and Italy – it positioned itself clearly at the top.
The Bel Paese is closely linked to the events of The Works and gods Queen in that year, given that Freddie Mercury and associates were invited as special guests to Sanremo festival.
FREDDIE MERCURY AND THE OBLIGATION TO SING IN PLAYBACK
The Sanremo festival it has a long history of large holdings and well-known faces from the world of international music. However one of the most legendary and iconic apparitions was certainly that of the Queen in 1984. Freddie Mercury, John Deacon, Brian May e Roger Taylor take the Ariston stage to present their new single Radio Ga Ga. But what could have become an epic moment for Italian television, results in a real disaster.
The singer of Bohemian Rhapsody in fact he is forced to sing in playback. But for what reason? The politics of RAI of the time imposed this condition on all artists. The choice was probably justified by not having enough time to adjust the volumes tools, in the case of guests who were placed between one competitor and another. In addition to this, it is useful to consider that the problem of having was eliminated sound technicians and sound engineers around and avoided bad figures due to false notes. An event that certainly would not concern Freddie Mercury!
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